Burleydam's ECO Tips for the garden - making a difference

 

Pick Up Our Free Eco Tips Leaflet

 

You'll find plenty of environmentally sensitive gardening tips within the centre, including our own specially researched leaflet, free for all of our visitors.

 

Tip 1 Grow your own organic

• Improve your soil
• Make your own compost
• Choose the right plants
• Control weeds naturally
• Control insects naturally
• Companion planting
• Learn to live with imperfection

 

Tip 2 Make Wildlife work for you

• Plant a nature escape
• Butterfly gardening
• Plant for bees

 

Tip 3 Reduce your carbon debt

• Plant plants, lawns and trees
• Provide natural fresh air machines in your home - indoor plants
• Switch to peat free compost

 

Tip 4 Water conservation

• Water butts are available with useful attachments -Consider a soaker hose
• Adding a layer of mulch
• Use Water saving crystals/gels

 

Our policy/strive to support the environment through:

• Buying Products as locally as we can, hence avoiding unnecessary carbon emissions.
• 82% of the plants we sell are grown in the UK.
• If you  join us for refreshments in our Café, all our meals and cakes are homemade with ingredients sourced from local suppliers too.
• We choose suppliers, where we can, who  show this trade mark for forestry stewardship council. This can be found on timber products, garden furniture, planters, arbours and such like. Where the supplier has used timber from well-managed forests and other controlled sources.
• One supplier, we use, AFK, outdoor living  products, takes their carbon footprint very seriously, so much so that this year they have committed to planting  500 trees to offset CO2 emissions. They recycle all the waste products into animal bedding and wooden pellets for heating  boilers.
• Recycle by example; As a busy growing garden centre it was hard to keep track of what waste we produce. In 2008 our company reviewed it waste management and looked into the ‘Green Issues’ affected by waste. We made the decision to change our waste management company to Bagnall & Morris. This company regularly informs us on how much of our waste is recycled and how much is sent to landfill. In the period from October to December 2009, 89% of our collected waste was recycled. In addition to this the company invested in a Compactor to compress and compact our waste packaging, such as cardboard and plastics, this is then sent to other recycling outlets.
• We also supply biodegradable plastic carrier bags and  provide a very good quality, stylish  ‘bag for life’!
• Burleydam Garden Centre supply  the ‘Earth Matters’ range of environmentally sensitive garden essentials and peat free and peat reduced composts.